How to Detox from Caffeine, Sugar and White Flour in 7 Days

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Caffeine, sugar and white flour are substances that interfere with your metabolism and brain health — and the ones people usually have the most trouble giving up and getting out of their systems.

I recommend eliminating these items from your diet in a systematic way with a detox. This may help you avoid potential withdrawal symptoms, make you feel better, and jumpstart the process to better brain function and overall health. Follow the steps below to help make the transition as simple and painless as possible.

How to eliminate caffeine

If you have been drinking caffeine for a long time, you have to get off it over a few days. Minimize your pain and the difficulty of giving up your addiction by following these detoxification steps.

Step 1: Start on a Weekend

You may want to start on a Sunday. This will allow you to take naps as needed, since your body will be recovering from the caffeine and you are liable to be fatigued.

Step 2: Reduce Your Caffeine Intake

For the first three days (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday), cut your daily intake of coffee, cola, black tea or other caffeinated beverages in half. That means if you usually have four cups of coffee in the morning, you would have two cups of coffee in the morning on Sunday, one cup on Monday and half a cup on Tuesday. Doing this helps you wean your body off the caffeine, which should reduce withdrawal symptoms.

Step 3: Drink Green Tea

For the next four days (the remainder of the week), you can drink one cup of caffeinated green tea steeped for five minutes in boiling water. You may continue drinking green tea for all its wonderful health and weight benefits. (Note that I recommend green tea as part of your morning ritual.)

You can switch to decaffeinated green tea if you want to eliminate caffeine completely. Otherwise, it is fine to have one cup of caffeinated, organic green tea every morning. The caffeine is minimal, and the health benefits are great.

Step 4: Take Vitamin C

Throughout this process, I recommend taking 1,000–2,000 mg of buffered pure ascorbic acid (vitamin C) powder or capsules. This may help you detoxify and balance your system.

Step 5: Drink Plenty of Clean Water

You should also drink at least six to eight glasses of filtered water a day. You should do this regardless of whether or not you are getting off caffeine, but it is especially important for this process because it will keep your body well hydrated and can reduce headaches and constipation, and flush toxins out of your system.

How to eliminate sugar and white flour

Eliminating sugar is hard because it’s an addiction. But the physical cravings dissipate quickly once you stop eating it. Here are some tips for how you can successfully do this with a whole body cleanse.

I recommend starting the same day you cut your caffeine intake in half.

The tried and true method from my experience with thousands of patients: Go cold turkey from all white flour and sugar products. (Don’t cheat — it will only make it worse!)

Include protein for breakfast, such as eggs, nuts, seeds, nut butters or a protein shake.

Don’t go low-fat. Consume olive oil, olives, nuts, seeds and avocados every day. Despite commonly held beliefs, these good fats are NOT fattening.

Eat every three hours. Snack on nuts and seeds such as almonds, walnuts or pumpkin seeds (raw or dry-roasted only). One serving is a handful or ten to twelve nuts.

Drink at least six to eight glasses of filtered water a day.

How to ease withdrawal symptoms

The unfortunate reality is that making these changes in your diet is liable to cause a few withdrawal symptoms. They include:

Bad breath

Constipation

Achy, flu-like feeling

Fatigue

Headaches

Hunger

Irritability

Itchy skin

Nausea

Offensive body odor

Sleep difficulties (too much or too little)

These symptoms are actually a good sign. They mean your body and mind are eliminating stored toxins and are finding their way to balance and UltraWellness once more.

Those who consume the most caffeine, alcohol and sugar, and those who have the most food allergies, will have the most difficulty with the detoxificaiton initially. In any event, symptoms of withdrawal usually disappear after three or four days.

What to do if withdrawal symptoms become uncomfortable

Make sure you drink at least six to eight glasses of filtered water daily.

Comments

Submitted by chessa on Wed, 08/12/2009 - 12:54.

chessa

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Joined: 08/12/2009

I have a couple questions more than a comment. So many articles say to eliminate white flour and refined sugar foods. I get the obvious ones like cakes, cookies, etc. However, what about fruits, organic jams/jellies with no added sugars (hidden or otherwise), organic unsweetened fruit juices, and so forth? Do these need to be eliminated also? And in regards to the white flour products, I have a family member with Celiac Disease and most recipes for gluten-free items contain rice flour (white usually), potato flour, almond flour and so on. Most whole grain flours can not be used; she can not eat oats either. So are all baked items out for this person if eliminating "white flours"?

I don't see why, if I don't actually *have* to wean myself off of caffeine (i.e. the caffeine in green tea is okay), why I should give up my morning cup of coffee either. Coffee too has health benefits (not the same ones as green tea, but health benefits nonetheless). So since the article clearly indicates that I don't need to go totally decaf, I'm keeping my morning cup of coffee.

Refined sugar and flour are not healthy carbohydrates and should be consumed in small, limited amounts only. Replacing them can be as simple as substituting the refined ingredients that would normally be used in typical meals with healthier alternatives. Thanks for sharing information.

I keeping seeing the requirement of drinking tea. I can not stand the smell or taste of tea. There has to be something else to drink or take that would help as much as tea is supposed to. I have an intolerance to dairy products and high levels of vitamin C. I also can't stand the smell or taste of coffee. My caffeine is from Coke Classic.

As a student LMT, it wouldn't hurt to treat yourself to a seaweed wrap during that time either! Its great for detoxification and remineralization, and any good therapist should offer some essential oils to make it all come together. Enjoy!